Riga, Dec 17 (LETA) - The number of newborns registered in Latvia in October this year is for the first time below 1,000, according to preliminary data published by the Central Statistical Office.

In October 2024, 994 newborns were registered in Latvia, which is 15.8 percent or 186 fewer than in the same month of 2023, including 489 boys and 505 girls registered in October this year.

According to Eurostat, seven of the ten months with the lowest number of births so far in 2024 are in Latvia.

In April 2024 there were with 1,061 births, in February 2023 - 1,063 births, in March 2024 - 1,075 births, in November 2022 - 1,077 births, in November 2023 - 1,079 births and in May 2024 there were 1,094 births registered.

At the same time, according to the data of the statistical office, the highest number of newborns registered in Latvia during a month was in June 1922 - 4,204, followed by February 1987 - 4,091 newborns, March 1923 - 4,068 newborns, January 1924 - 4,065 newborns and March 1927 - 3,968 newborns.

A total of 10,710 births were registered in Latvia in the first ten months of this year, which is 13 percent or 1,605 births fewer than in the corresponding period of 2023. In the same period of 2024, among the newborns registered, 5,481 were boys, which is 12.8 percent or 806 fewer than in the corresponding period of 2023, and 5,229 were girls, which is a decrease of 13.3 percent or 799.

The data also show that 21,871 deaths were registered in Latvia in the first ten months of this year, which is 4.5 percent or 1,040 fewer than in the first ten months of 2023, when 22,911 deaths were registered.

Thus, the number of deaths registered in the first ten months of this year exceeded the number of births by 11,161, while the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 10.596 in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the first ten months of 2024, 9,151 marriages were registered in Latvia, which is 4.1 percent or 396 fewer than in the corresponding period of 2023.

On 1 November this year, the estimated population of Latvia was 1.855 million.